


🌌 You Jump, I Jump, Right?

by slytherinkenma



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Titanic AU, time traveller AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 07:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23967901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherinkenma/pseuds/slytherinkenma
Summary: Time Travellers Lance and Pidge cannot stop the inevitable but they will be damned if they cannot find their friend Keith and his lost brother Shiro.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	🌌 You Jump, I Jump, Right?

**Author's Note:**

> i have had this idea of cowboy lance being a time traveller for a while  
> him knowing so many little forgotten tidbits of history and just being super fucking smart and slowly falling in love with keith - a boy from far in the future
> 
> this should probably be a multi chap fic but i wanted to write the climax of the story first to see if it works, maybe i'll expand it to a bigger fic, maybe not, let's see!
> 
> i hope you like it!

When Lance was 14 years old, he was working at the docks. An orphan in New York City in 1885? He had been grateful to have a job at all. Apparently, his dad had worked for Old Will ever since he had emigrated from Cuba. When he had died and a tiny Lance had nowhere to go, the old man ‘hired’ him to soon start doing odd jobs around the docks. It was a miracle that he had never been seriously injured while running errands between the unfinished ships in various states of being built.

People came and went; Lance was used to never having anyone be around for long. Old Will, who Lance never saw taking a day off to rest - except Sundays because his wife was a devoted Christian - seemingly built hundreds of ships in his lifetime. After he died, Lance worked for his son.

They never treated him badly, but he wasn’t part of their family either. They provided him a chance to work and he took it gratefully; in return he got food and a bed. Life wasn’t too bad. But Lance knew that if he would be gone one day, no one would miss him or wonder where he went. There was freedom to that. There was also great loneliness to that.

That’s why he never regretted being roped into this whole adventure with Pidge that one fateful April night.

If you had asked him back in 1885 what he would be doing in 1912, he would have probably figured that he would still work at the docks. Or maybe on a ship. That in whatever way, if he were alive at 41 years old, he would hopefully be close to the ocean. And he would not have been wrong, as his current view could attest. The Atlantic Ocean stretching out all around him with the sun having set over the horizon a few hours ago.

What he wouldn’t have expected was the fact that he was 21 years old and on a speedboat with hydro boost trying to catch up to the Titanic. Yeah, that’s probably an important detail to mention.

“We’re almost there!”, Pidge shouted over the swishing sound of the waves parting under the strength of their absolutely silent boat. Once more, Lance was thankful for the invisibility function of it. Sounds fantastical? Well.

That’s because what had happened on that _one fateful April night in 1885_ – and ever since then - had been nothing short of magical. Or well… scientific. See, Lance had met Pidge due to their family owning a big corporation which, among other things, were in the trade business. They bought out wide parts of the dock that Old Will’s son was operating on and suddenly Lance found himself indirectly working for the Holt family. After that, things get complicated.

Because if you find yourself investigating the deepest depths of documents about the elite of New York’s high society in the late 19th Century, you may stumble upon our own Lance himself. Allegedly, he and Pidge – or Katie Holt as they referred to them back then – ran off together. That’s right. Lance McClain made it into the footnotes of history as having eloped with his best friend at age 14. It is absolutely ridiculous, but they take it with humour. Obviously, that story is way more believable than what actually took place.

See, while Pidge’s parents did put all those expectations of hyper femininity onto them, they couldn’t stop Pidge from pursuing their interests in science. Back then that interest could already be enough to cause a social affront. Granted, to a certain extent, their parents supported their thirst for knowledge as they viewed their education as a promising investment which would ensure Pidge to later get a good husband from their parent’s social circle yada-yada-yada.

Basically, Pidge and Lance weren’t too mad that everyone assumed they had had a Romeo and Juliet-esque thing going on and ran off to get married because – to quote Pidge themself – “at least it made those stuck-up classist snobs uncomfortable”.

Of course, Pidge would have liked it way more if history would have acknowledged their scientific genius and them being the inventor of the first ever time machine but oh well. At least they found out that in 1977 one of Pidge’s relatives found their journals and for centuries to come they were circulating in not only feminist and gender studies discourses but also scientific ones. Some conspiracy theorists even came kinda close to what really happened even though no one could prove anything of course. 

So that’s why Lance had spent the last 7 years, 2 months, 16 days and 21 hours as a time travelling adventurer. Of course, the rumours were all false and he and Pidge had never had a romantic thing going on, but Lance did love them. They were his best friend and the only family he had ever known. And even though they have their fair share of immature bickering and disagreements from time to time, they trust each other with their lives, and he is very happy to be on this intertemporal voyage with them.

A voyage that currently found them sitting in the aforementioned speedboat trailing in the shadows of the Titanic. Lance was rebraiding Pidge’s hair – their chances of attracting as little attention as possible increased whenever they went for the classic ‘cishet couple, nothing to see here’ disguise.

If anyone were to question their status they would just refer to Pidge’s actual heritage. The Holt clan was extensive and throughout the centuries the Holt’s remained a household name among New York and London socialites. Luckily, they all looked pretty much the same, too. As long as they didn’t run into someone _from_ the Holt family they should be fine.

Pidge activated the non-gravity feature in their clothing and, after they shrunk and stashed away their speedboat, they slowly floated towards the railing. As soon as the metaphorical coast was clear, they climbed on the deck. The deck of a doomed ship that would reside on the ocean floor in mere hours. But Lance couldn’t think about that right now. He couldn’t start to wonder how many of the people that they passed, while unhurriedly strolling over to the nearest door, would drown or freeze to death soon.

“Stop that”, Pidge warned him.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do. I know that face, Lance. But there is nothing we can do for these people.”

Of course, Lance technically knew that they were right. Even if they somehow prevented the ship to crash into the infamous iceberg any minute now, there would be another iceberg nearby. There was indeed nothing they could do to stop the inevitable. What was supposed to happen, would happen. They had experienced that first-hand after – absolutely on accident - stopping a certain archduke from being assassinated two years after their current-now. There had simply been a different assassination soon after.

That’s when they learned two important lessons: 1) the butterfly effect was powerful and their actions have effects they cannot foresee, and 2) the effects could never be that grand because the timeline was set. One way or another the things that have happened would happen; they couldn’t stop things that had nothing to do with them. They could only influence their own actions. It was frustrating but it was the laws by which the space-time-continuum naturally preserved itself.

“Why would Keith even board this ship? How can he not know?”, Lance asked as he opened a door for Pidge.

Ah, Keith. You have probably already been asking yourself why those two would decide to board the Titanic to begin with. You remember the journals that would start circulating 60 years after their current-now? Well, turns out that towards the end of the 23rd century, someone who is not a conspiracy theorist would consider not only the theoretical meanings of Pidge’s calculations but also the practical ramifications and application possibilities.

Long story short, Takashi Shirogane accidentally embarked on a time travelling adventure and got stuck somewhere in time. A little bit farther in the future they discovered documents speculating on what happened to the renowned scientist and had an unsettling hunch about what may have taken place.

They couldn’t go back to the point before Takashi made the time jump because that would create a parallel timeline, which, as we already established, is not possible. Pidge ran some tests and found out that his mind’s current-now had gone through 13 months after his time jump, which is why they travelled to the year 2285 to look for clues.

That’s where they met his adoptive brother Keith and they joined him on his search for Shiro – by taking him with them on their intertemporal travel. They had been searching for weeks now but then got separated. With Keith’s communication device unreachable, they had to locate him.

Which had led them to where they were now.

“Well, compared to everything that’s gonna happen over the course of the next 4 centuries”, Pidge murmured, “today’s event won’t hold that much significance in history class, I suppose.”

“History class? I’m talking about a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet-“

That’s when they felt it. The ship gradually taking a turn and then the jolt when they hit the iceberg. They shared a knowing glance.

“2 hours 40 minutes until the ship sinks. We have to find Keith and, if he’s even on here, Shiro and leave”, Pidge said as they made their way over to the elevators. Keith didn’t have 1912’s money on him and, with the clothes he had been wearing, probably snuck into third class.

They entered the elevator and slowly descended toward the lower decks. They tried to enter the third class on different access points but each time they were confronted by a closed gate and employees asking Pidge and Lance what they were doing down here, so each time they made up a story and left quickly.

They had to find a gate where no one was around, so they could pick the lock and get in.

“We have to hurry up or we won’t have enough time to get away without being seen.”

“Or to help at least a little bit”, Lance said before Pidge suddenly came to a halt and gently grasped his arm.

“Lance, 1500 people are gonna die tonight. And nothing we can do will minimise that number in a significant way. We don’t have the means to make a difference here. Believe me, I _know_ that sucks, but our priority is to find Keith and Shiro and leave without having our covers blown.”

“I know”, Lance admitted defeatedly as he let out a sigh. “I just...” He shook his head. "Let's go."

“You have to open this gate, the ship will sink and two thirds of the passengers will die. We have to start evacuating now!”

Pidge and Lance shared a look before turning a corner.

“Hey, I found Shiro”, Pidge said as they pulled Lance with them towards the gate.

“What do you mean, _you_ found him?”, Lance replied indignantly.

Instead of an answer, Pidge opened the door to a small storage closet to their right. They took one look inside before shrugging and lighting some of the linens on fire with a futuristic lighter they fished out of the depths of their dress.

Then they took the arm Lance offered them and they made their way over to the employee sneering at Shiro and – as Lance realised with a racing heart – Keith.

“Excuse me but we seem to have gotten lost”, Pidge remarked and as the employee turned to them, he saw the small fire at the end of the corridor and rushed towards it to put it out. Pidge pickpocketed a keychain from him as he passed them.

“Lance! Pidge! You’re here”, Keith said unbelievingly.

“The scientist and the cowboy?”, Shiro asked.

“Yes-“

“He was literally working at the docks! We both grew up in the city, we were never even near a farm!”, Pidge said as the lock clicked and they pulled the gate open.

“Killjoy”, Lance pouted before they handed him the keychain.

“You want your Leonardo DiCaprio moment? Fine, let’s try to open as many gates as possible but then we really have to leave”, Pidge said as Lance smiled.

After they helped as much as they could, they were on their way back to the main deck. Keith suddenly took Lance's hand and came to a halt right as they passed a pompous staircase.

“You knew this ship would sink. Why did you come here?”

“Guys, we don’t have time for this”, Pidge reminded them. All around them chaos was gradually ensuing. Not long until the ship would completely sink.

“What do you mean ‘why’?”, Lance asked. “I would’ve never left you behind in 1912, sinking ship or not.”

Keith shook his head incredulously. “You are the smartest person I know.”

“Hey!”, Pidge and Shiro indignantly said in unison.

Keith was still holding onto Lance’s hand.

“How are you so smart”, Keith continued unperturbed. Lance’s breath hitched when Keith’s lilac eyes darted to Lance’s lips. “And still do something so stupid… like boarding the Titanic?”

“Hey! You boarded it first!”

“I didn’t know, though. You did but still came here. That’s so…”

Once again, Lance was losing himself in Keith’s eyes, bad timing be damned.

“Stupid. Yes, we’ve established that”, Lance quipped and Keith laughed.

“Kiss me”, he said finally. 

He didn’t have to tell Lance twice. He threaded his fingers through Keith’s frustratingly endearing mullet as he kissed him tentatively. Their cheeks were dusted a soft pink as they parted. Lance turned to a smiling Pidge.

“Oh my god, I thought I was Jack but I am actually Rose!!!”, he said gesturing to the staircase and to Keith.

“Who?”, Keith asked confused.

“I’ll explain it later”, Lance assured him before he pulled him along. They had to move quickly now.

Especially Shiro tried to help as much as possible before they had to board their cramped speedboat where they wouldn't be seen. Later they would find out that Shiro had thought he could stop the ship from sinking without gravely impacting history's course. But the actual time jump in itself had been accidental.

Even when you knew that these tragic historic events were not alterable, it was hard to turn your back on people in need. He and Pidge were forced to learn that several years ago but Shiro and Keith were experiencing it for the first time. Lance held Keith's hand and Keith held his, as they made their way back to the mainland in silence.

Lance didn't know what they would do once they got the brothers back to their time period. But as he looked at Keith and their respective siblings - the only family both of them had ever known - he knew that they would figure it out together.

**Author's Note:**

> jack: you are so stupid, rose! why did you do that??  
> rose: you jump, i jump, right??  
> me, age 7: this is the most ROMANTIC shit i've EVER seen omg apparently love IS real?????
> 
> anyway, this is the only context in which i am okay with anyone referring to lance as stupid


End file.
